Hi-Rez Studios announces they are celebrating the second anniversary of the launch of Global Agenda, their free-to-play MMO shooter. They promise their loyal players a few rewards to commemorate the occasion, including a free limited edition pet, a free reward for PvP tournament participants, and the return of some back catalog "flair" (presumably a minimum of 37 pieces). They also offer some statistics from the game's first two years, saying it has seen over 1,000,000 registered players, over 12,000,000 PvE missions, and over 1,400,000 PvP missions.

I play and like it. The learning curve isnt too bad. There are two distinct bits, below level 30 and above level 30. The skill levels improve above 30 so dont rush to level.

The great thing is, you arent hamstrung much by being "free". You cant use the auction house (not really necessary for below 30 players) and you cant mail each other to swap kit (you sell items by attaching the item and mailing with COD).

You can pay about $10 to unlock these features and get double XP per mission (slows the grind for XP) and get more loot drops.

In short, give it a go. Perhaps think about paying the $10 if you like it (but dont race to beyond 30!). I havent mentioned boosters, dont worry about them, they add more XP and more loot. Only the truly dedicated get boosters really.

There is enough PVE and PVP to keep you going for a while. The "guild wars" agency vs agency is a bit crap but stops things going stale.

Its not the cough that carries you off but the coffin they carry you off in.